&:c. Geba we.s reckoned an extreme city of but we hee.r of " "valley of Zcboim" in Benje.min towards the west, and consequently 1 Sam. xiii. 18, which seems to have le.in occurs last in the first list of Joshua (eh. east of Michmash, in the bleak country xviii. 24). Its proximity to Miohmaah and towards the Jordan. Nebe.llat is not else- Aije. (Aiath) e.ppee.rs in Isa.. x. 28, 29. All where mentioned. t.hree places were in the near vicinity of Ver. 35.-Lod, now Ludd (called in the Bethel. Acts of the Apostles Lydda), was nt the Ver. 32. -Ane.thoth WlLS on the road from eastern edge of the Shephelah, or low mari- Geba to Jerusalem (Isa. x. 30), and was n time plain, and about nine miles to the S.E. Lentical city (Josh. xx:i. 18). Nob was still of Joppa. Unimportant during the early nearer to the capital, which could be seen times, 1t became a place of considerablo note from it (Isa. L 32). It was famous for the under the Maccabees (1 Mace. x. 30, 38 ; xi. masse.cre of the priests by Doeg (1 Sam. xxii. 28, 34, 67, &c.), and so continued till the 18, 19). Ane.nia.h is mentioned only in this taking of Jerusalem by Titus, soon after place. . which its name was changed to Diospolis. Yer. 33. -Huor occurs as a Benjamite Ono is first mentioned in I Chron. viii. 12 city here only. Rame.h is the fe.mous town, in combination with Lod, with which it is now er-Rarn, so often mentioned as a little also joined in Ezra ii. 33 and Neh. vii. 37. to the north of Jerusalem (Josh. rviii. 25; We do not know· how it came to be called Judges i,. 5; I Kings xv. 17; Isa. x. 29; '' the valley of craftsmen." Jer. mi. 15). Gitte.im is mentioned as a Ver. 36.-0fthe Levites were divisions in Benjamite town in 2 Sam. iv. 3. J'udah e.nd Benjamin. The exact sense is Yer. 34.-He.did is joined with Lod and obscure, but we may gather from the passage Ono in Ezra ii. 33 and Neh. vii. 37. It is that e. certain number of Levites were dis- probably the modern Hadi,t;heh, three miles persed among the Benje.mite cities. They east of Ludd or Lod, in the Shephelah. were not now numerous enough to have any Zeboim is not elsewhere mentioned as a town, cities to themselves.
HOMILETICS. Ch. :xi.-Town and country. Variety in unity. Nehemiah had been some time before (see eh. vii. 4, 5) impressed with the necessity of increasing the population of Jerusalem, and had taken preliminary steps ; but other more pressing matters had intervened. He now proceeded with his design. His purpose was, that of the whole population one-tenth should inhabit the metropolis, and he arranged that the additional families to dwell there should be determined by lot. First, however, opportunity was given for volunteers to offer themselves, and many appear to have done so (ver. 2), and gained for themselves the blessing of the people, who would have to supply a proportionately smaller number by the determination of the lot, each one's chance of being called upon to break up his home and remove to Jerusa- lem being consequently lessened. It is difficult to understand how such an artificial increase of a city's inhabitants could be successfully and permanently accomplished ; how, for instance, people from the country, chosen promiscuously, could accommo- date themselves to life in the city ; how suitable employments could be found for them, and how they could be supported during [the period of transition. But this is not a solitary instance of the kind in ancient times (see note in 'Speaker's Com- mentary'). The neces~ity of increasing the population of Jerusalem appears from what is said in eh. vii. 4, and the building of the wall would have been of little value otherwise. As the metropolis, and as "the holy city," it was alike important that it shonld be well peopled. Following the brief notice in vers. 1 and 2 of the steps taken for this purpose, we have in the rest of the chapter an account of the inhabitants, first of the city, and then of the country. It sets forth the variety in condition, avocations, &c. of the people, who yet were one both as a civil and a religious community ; and may be employed as suggesting to us the variety in unity of the Christian Church. I. There is vABIE'I'Y. 1. As to locality. As here some dwelt within the walls of J eru- salem, near the temple, the rest were scattered about the country; so the Church is scattered throughout the world, in every variety of situation, and comprises people of almost all languages, &c. 2. In occupations and functions. In Israel, the rulers and the ruled, craftsmen and agriculturists ; and about the temple itself, priests, Levites, and Nethinims; singers, gate-keepers, &c. So in the Church. Every separate Church, oil. XI, 1-36.] THE BOOlt OF NEHEMIAH. 121